Microsoft Word Al Jalalain Eng with introduction docx

(An-Naml)
[27:1]
T
ā
s
ī
n: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the 
Qur’
ā
n, signs from it, and a Manifest Book, manifesting [what is] truth from [what is] falsehood (wa-kit
ā
bin, 
‘Book’, is a supplement [to al-qur’
ā
n] with the addition of an adjective [mub
ī
n, ‘manifest’]). 
[27:2]
It is, a guidance, guiding from error, and good tidings for the believers, who believe in it, of Paradise; 
[27:3]
those who observe prayer, performing it in the way that it should be [performed], and give alms and who 
are certain of the Hereafter, knowing it [to be true] through the [many] proofs thereof (hum, ‘they’, is 
repeated because a separation has taken place between it [the first hum] and the predicate [y
ū
qin
ū
na]). 
[27:4]

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430
Truly those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have adorned their, vile, deeds for them, by making 
such [deeds] seem sensuous so that they then deem them wholesome, and so they are bewildered, 
confused about why We deem these [deeds] to be vile. 
[27:5]
Those are they for whom there is an awful chastisement, the worst [chastisement] in this world: being killed 
or being taken captive; and in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers, because they will end up in the 
Fire which has been made everlasting for them. 
[27:6]
And truly you — this is an address to the Prophet (s) — are receiving the Qur’
ā
n, it is being transmitted to 
you intensely, from One Wise, Knowing, in such [transmission]. 
[27:7]
Mention, when Moses said to his family, [to] his wife, during his journey from Midian [back] to Egypt: 
‘Assuredly I notice, I see in the distance, a fire. I will bring you news from there, about the [journey’s] route 
— for he had lost his way — or bring you a firebrand (read as a genitive annexation [bi-shih
ā
bi qabasin] as 
an explication [of shih
ā
b, ‘flame’]; or read without [annexation, bi-shih
ā
bin qabasin] meaning, a flame of fire 
at the end of a wick or a wooden stick) that perhaps you might warm yourselves’, (tastal
ū
n: the t
ā
’ replaces 
the t
ā
’ of the [8th verbal form] ifta‘ala [sc. istal
ā
]; it derives from salaya or saliya, ‘to be exposed to the 
blaze of fire’), [that perhaps] you might warm yourselves from the cold. 
[27:8]
But when he reached it, he was called [with the following words]: ‘Blessed is he, that is to say, God bless 
him, who is in the fire, namely, Moses, and who is around it, namely, the angels — or vice-versa ([the verb] 
b
ā
raka may be followed immediately by the direct object or by a preposition and then the direct object; [a 
noun such as] mak
ā
n, ‘location’, is implied after f
ī
, ‘in’, [sc. man f
ī
mak
ā
ni’l-n
ā
r, ‘who is in the area of the 
fire’]); and Glory be to God, the Lord of the Worlds — this is included in the call, and is meant to declare 
that God is above all evil [associations]. 
[27:9]
O Moses, lo!, in other words, the fact is that, it is I, God, the Mighty, the Wise. 
[27:10]
Throw down your staff’, and he threw it down. And when he saw it wriggling, moving, like a serpent, a 
slender snake, he turned his back in flight and did not come back. God, exalted be He, says: ‘O Moses, do 
not fear, it. Surely in My presence, before Me, the messengers do not fear, any snake or otherwise, 
[27:11]
except him who has wronged, his soul, but then changed [his wrong] for good — he [then] performs [good 
deeds] — after [having done] evil, in other words, [he has] repented, then truly I am Forgiving, Merciful, I 
will accept his repentance and forgive him. 
[27:12]
And insert your hand into your bosom, into the collar of your shirt, and it will emerge, not in its usual skin 
colour, but, white without any blemish, any [vestige of] leprosy, with a glare that dazzles the eyes, as one 
sign, among nine signs, with which you shall be sent [as God’s messenger], to Pharaoh and his folk; indeed 
they are an immoral lot’ . 

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431
[27:13]
But when Our signs came to them plain to see, illuminating and clear, they said, ‘This is manifest sorcery’, 
clear and evident [sorcery]. 
[27:14]
And they denied them, they did not affirm them, though, in reality, their souls had been convinced, in other 
words, [though] they were certain that these [signs] were from God, wrongfully and arrogantly, in defiance 
of believing in what Moses had brought ([these two adverbs] refer back to [the cause of] their denial). So 
behold, O Muhammad (s), how was the sequel for the agents of corruption, [a sequel] which you know: 
they were destroyed. 
[27:15]
And verily We gave David and Solomon, his son, knowledge, of rendering [decisive] judgement between 
people, and [knowledge] of the speech of birds and of other things, and they said, giving thanks to God, 
‘Praise be to God Who has favoured us, with prophethood and the disposal of jinn, humans and devils [to 
our service], over many of His believing servants’. 
[27:16]
And Solomon inherited from David, prophethood and knowledge exclusively from among all his other 
children; and he said, ‘O people, we have been taught the speech of the birds, that is, the ability to 
understand their sounds, and we have been given of all things, given to prophets and kings. Indeed this, 
gift, is the manifest, the evident, favour’. 
[27:17]
And, on one journey, Solomon’s hosts of jinn and humans and birds stood assembled for him as they were 
being arrayed, brought together [in groups] and marshalled. 
[27:18]
When they came to the Valley of the Ants — which is [located] either in T
ā
’if or in Syria, and whose ants are 
either small or large — an ant, the queen ant, who had seen Solomon’s hosts, said, ‘O ants, enter your 
dwellings, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you while they are unaware!’ — the ants are likened to rational 
beings in their use of the latter’s speech. 
[27:19]
Whereat he, Solomon, smiled (fa-tabassama, the beginning [of the sentence]) amused (d
ā
hikan, the end [of 
the sentence]) at its words, which he had heard from three miles away and which was carried to him by the 
winds. When he was on the verge of [entering] their valley, he [Solomon] made his hosts halt until they [the 
ants] had entered their dwellings — on this journey his hosts consisted of cavalry and infantry. And he said, 
‘My Lord, inspire me to be thankful for Your grace with which You have favoured me and my parents, and to 
do good that will please You, and include me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants’, the prophets 
and saints. 
[27:20]
And he reviewed the birds, to see the hoopoe — which would locate water beneath the ground and indicate 
its location by pecking at it, whereupon the devils would extract it, for Solomon required it for when he 
prayed; but he could not see him — then he said, ‘Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe?, in other words, is 
there something preventing me from seeing him? Or is he among the absent?, and so I cannot see him 

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432
because he is absent?’ And when he became certain [of the hoopoe’s absence],
[27:21]
He said, ‘Assuredly I will chastise him with a severe chastisement, by having [all] his feathers as well as his 
tail plucked and leaving him out in the sun, where he would not be able to escape from reptiles, or I will 
slaughter him, by slitting his throat, unless he brings me (read la-ya’tiyann
ī
or la-ya’tinann
ī
) a clear warrant’, 
plain manifest proof for his [having a valid] excuse. 
[27:22]
But he did not remain (read fa-makutha or fa-makatha) long [in absence], in other words, [he was away 
only] for a short while, and came to Solomon humbly, with his head up and his wings and tail lowered. 
Solomon pardoned him and asked him about what he had encountered during his absence: and he said, ‘I 
have discovered something of which you have no knowledge, and I have brought you from Sheba (this may 
be read in declined form [min Saba’in] or left as indeclinable [min Saba’a]) — a tribe in Yemen, whose name 
is taken from the name of one of their ancestors (which is also the reason why it may be declined) — a 
verified report. 
[27:23]
I found a woman ruling over them, in other words, she was their queen, her name Bilq
ī
s; and she has been 
given [an abundance] of all things, that kings might require, in the way of machines and instruments, and 
she possesses a great throne — its length was 80 cubits, its width 40 cubits, its height 30 cubits, and was 
made of gold and silver, encrusted with pearls, rubies, chrysolite, and emeralds, with its legs made of rubies, 
chrysolite and emeralds, containing seven [inner] doors, the door of each chamber shut. 
[27:24]
I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God, and Satan has adorned for them their 
deeds and he has barred them from the Way, from the path of truth, so that they are not guided 
[27:25]
to prostrate themselves to God (all
ā
yasjud
ū
should be read as an yasjud
ū
: the l
ā
is extra and with it has 
been assimilated the n
ū
n of an, similar to [the construction] where God says, li-all
ā
ya‘lama ahlu’l-kit
ā
bi, so 
that the People of the Scripture may know [Q. 57:29]; the sentence functions as the direct object of 
yahtad
ū
na, ‘guided’, whose il
ā
, ‘to’, has been omitted); [He] Who brings forth the hidden (al-khab’ is a 
verbal noun, with the same meaning as al-makhb
ū
’, ‘that which is hidden’) of rain and plants, in the heavens 
and the earth, and He knows what they conceal, within their hearts, and what they proclaim, with their 
tongues. 
[27:26]
God — there is no god except Him, the Lord of the Mighty Throne’ (this clause constitutes an [independent] 
new sentence, which is a eulogy comprising [praise of] the Throne of the Compassionate One to counter the 
[description of the] throne of Bilq
ī
s: between the two, however, is an unfathomable difference). 
[27:27]
He, Solomon, said, to the hoopoe: ‘We shall see whether you have spoken the truth, in what you have 
informed us, or whether you are of the liars, that is, of their ilk — for [to say] that is rhetorically more 
powerful than [simply] saying ‘or whether you have lied’. He [the hoopoe] indicated to them the place of the 
water and it was extracted. They thus drank, performed their ablutions and prayed. Solomon then composed 
a letter in the following form: ‘From the servant of God, Solomon son of David, to Bilq
ī
s, Queen of Sheba. In 
the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: Peace be upon those who follow Guidance. To wit: do 

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433
not rise up against me [in defiance], but come to me in submission’. He then stamped it with musk and 
sealed it with his ring, and said to the hoopoe: 
[27:28]
Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them, that is, to Bilq
ī
s and her people, then turn away, withdraw, 
from them, but remain close by them, and see what [response] they shall return’, [and see] what kind of 
response they shall give. Thus, he took it and approached her [Bilq
ī
s]. But as her soldiers were all around 
her, he cast it into her private chamber. When she saw it, she shuddered and was consumed by fear. She 
read what it said. 
[27:29]
Then, she said, to the noblemen of her people: ‘O [members of the] council, lo! (read y
ā
ayyuh
ā
’l-mala’u 
inn
ī
, pronouncing [in the last two words] both hamzas; or by not pronouncing the second one and changing 
it into a w
ā
w with kasra vowelling) a noble, a sealed, letter has been delivered to me.
[27:30]
It is from Solomon and lo! it is, in other words, its text says: “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the 
Merciful. 
[27:31]
Do not rise up against me [in defiance], but come to me in submission”’. 
[27:32]
She said, ‘O [members of the] council, give me an opinion (read y
ā
ayyuh
ā
’l-mala’u aft
ū
n
ī
, pronouncing both 
hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second and changing it into a w
ā
w), in other words, guide me, in this 
matter of mine. I never decide on a matter, I never conclude it, until you are present’. 
[27:33]
They said, ‘We possess force and we possess great might, in other words, we are hardy in war. The matter 
is for you [to decide]. So see what you will command’, us, and we will obey you. 
[27:34]
She said, ‘Indeed kings, when they enter a town, ruin it, with destruction, and reduce the mightiest of its 
inhabitants to the most abased. That is what they too will do, namely, the senders of this letter. 
[27:35]
Now I will send them a gift and wait to see with what [response] the envoys return’, in the way of accepting 
the gift or rejecting it. If it be a king [to whom we have sent it], he will accept it; but if it be a prophet, he 
will reject it. Thus, she sent male and female servants, one thousand in total, together with five hundred 
bricks of gold, a crown studded with jewels, and musk, ambergris and other things with an envoy carrying a 
letter. The hoopoe thus hurried back to bring the news to Solomon, who ordered bricks of gold and silver to 
be made and laid out across a [vast] square the distance of nine parasangs from his seat and for a towering 
wall of gold and silver to be constructed around it, and for the most splendid creatures of the land and the 
sea, together with the children of the jinn, to be brought to line the right and left sides of the square. 
[27:36]
But when he, the envoy, came to Solomon, with the gift and the servants, he said, ‘Are you supplying me 

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434
with wealth? What God has given me, of prophethood and kingship, is better than what He has given you, of 
[the things of] this world. Nay, but it is you [and not I] who exult in your gift, for you pride yourselves upon 
[the possession of] the ornaments of this world! 
[27:37]
Go back to them, with the gifts that you have brought, for We shall assuredly come to them with hosts 
which they will not be able to face and we shall expel them from there, from the land of Sheba (Saba’) — 
named [thus] after their tribal ancestor — humiliated, and they shall be utterly abased’, unless they come to 
me in submission. When the envoy returned to her with the gift, she had her throne placed inside seven 
doors inside her palace, with her palace inside seven palaces, and had all the doors locked with guards at 
them. She then prepared to make the journey to Solomon to see what he would command her. She 
departed with twelve thousand chieftains (qayl), each accompanied by thousands [of men] until when she 
came to within a parasang of him, he sensed her [arrival]. 
[27:38]
He said, ‘O [members of the] council, which of you (regarding the two hamzas read them in the way 
mentioned above [verse 32]) will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?’, compliant 
and obedient? For I may only [rightfully] seize it before this [submission] and not afterwards. 
[27:39]
An afreet from among the jinn — a [jinn who is] powerful and stalwart — said, ‘I will bring it to you before 
you rise from your place, the one in which you sit when adjudicating — the period from morning to midday. 
Indeed I have the strength for it, that is, for carrying it, and I am trustworthy’, over what it may contain of 
jewels and other [precious] things. Solomon said, ‘I want something faster than that!’ 
[27:40]
The one who had knowledge of the, revealed, Scripture — and this was [one] 
Ā
sif b. Barkhiy
ā
, a righteous 
individual with knowledge of God’s Greatest Name, which when invoked [in supplication] for something it is 
[immediately] granted — said: ‘I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you, after you look at 
something. So he [the afreet] said to him, ‘Look up towards the heaven’, which he did, and when his glance 
returned [in front of him] he found it [Bilq
ī
s’ throne] placed before him — for in the instance in which 
Solomon looked up to the heaven, 
Ā
sif supplicated by invoking the Greatest Name that God bring it 
[thereto]; and this was done by having it travel under the earth until it sprung up below Solomon’s seat 
(kurs
ī
). Then, when he saw it standing, still, before him, he said, ‘This, bringing it to me, is of my Lord’s 
bounty, that He may try me, test me, whether I give thanks (read a-ashkur, pronouncing both hamzas; or 
by replacing the second one with an alif; or by not pronouncing the second one, but inserting an alif 
between the one not pronounced and the other one or without [the insertion]) or am ungrateful, for the 
favour. And whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake, because the reward for his thanks 
shall be his, and whoever is ungrateful, for the favour, [should know] then my Lord is surely Independent, 
with no need of his thanks, Generous’, by being bounteous to those who are ungrateful for it.
[27:41]
He said, ‘Disguise her throne for her — in other words, transform it such that when she sees it, it will be in 
an unrecognisable form — that we may see whether she will be guided, to recognising it, or be of those who 
cannot be guided’, to recognise when things are transformed around them. He [Solomon] sought thereby to 
test her mind, for it was said to have something wrong with it. Thus they transformed it by adding or taking 
away [certain things] and in other ways. 
[27:42]
So when she came, it was said, to her: ‘Is your throne like this?’ She said, ‘It as though it is the one’. She 

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435
had, in fact, recognised it; but she made a pretence to them just as they made a pretence to her, given that 
[when she was asked about the throne] it was not said, ‘Is this your throne?’, for had it been so, she would 
have replied, ‘Yes, it is’. When Solomon realised that she was perceptive and knowledgeable, he said: ‘And 
we were given the knowledge before her and we had submitted [to God]. 
[27:43]
And what she worshipped besides God, that is, other than Him, barred her, from the worship of God, for she 
belonged to disbelieving folk’. 
[27:44]
It was, also, said to her, ‘Enter the palace [hallway]’ — this was a transparent white glass floor underneath 
which flowed sweet water that contained fish. Solomon had it made when he was told that her legs and feet 
resembled the shanks of a mule. And when she saw it, she supposed it to be a pool, of water, and so she 
bared her legs, to wade through it. Meanwhile Solomon was seated on his throne at the front part of the 
palace [hallway], and he saw that her legs and feet were [in fact] fair. He said, to her: ‘It is a hallway paved 
[smooth] with crystal’, and thereafter he called her to submit [to God]. She said, ‘My Lord, indeed I have 
wronged myself, by worshipping other than You, and I submit with Solomon to God, the Lord of the Worlds’. 
He wanted to marry her but disliked the hair on her legs. So the devils made a [depilatory] lime mixture 
(n
ū
ra) and she removed it therewith. He married her and had [great] love for her. And he let her remain as 
ruler of her kingdom and would visit her once a month, staying for three days [every time]. Her reign came 
to an end at the same time as that of Solomon. It is reported that he became king at the age of 13 and died 
at the age of 53 — Glory be to the One whose enduring sovereignty will never end! 
[27:45]
And verily We sent to Tham
ū
d their brother, in terms of [his belonging to the same] tribe, S
ā
lih, with the 
following [decree]: ‘Worship God!’, affirm His Oneness. And lo! they [then] became two parties quarrelling 
with one another, over religion, one party having become believers upon his arrival as messenger to them 
and the other party disbelievers. 
[27:46]
He said, to the deniers: ‘O my people, why do you [seek to] hasten on evil before [seeking] good?, in other 
words, [why do you seek to hasten on] chastisement instead of mercy, when you say, ‘If what you bring us 
is true, then bring us the chastisement!’ Why do you not ask God to forgive you, [your] idolatry, so that you 
might be shown mercy?’, and not be chastised. 
[27:47]
They said, ‘We augur evil (ittayyarn
ā
is actually tatayyarn
ā
, but the t
ā
’ has been assimilated with the t
ā
’, and 
a conjunctive hamza added) of you and of those who are with you’, namely, the believers — when they [the 
tribe of Tham
ū
d] were deprived of rain and suffered hunger. He said, ‘Your evil augury is with God — He 
has given it to you; nay, but you are a people being tried’, being tested with good and evil [turns of 
fortune]. 
[27:48]
And there were in the city, the city of Tham
ū
d, a band of nine men, that is, [nine] men, who were causing 
corruption in the land, with acts of disobedience, which included their corroding of dinar and dirham coins 
[rendering them worthless], and did not reform [their ways], through obedience [to God]. 
[27:49]
They said, that is, some said to others, ‘Swear to one another by God that we will attack him by night (la-

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436
nubayyitannahu; or [read] la-tubayyitunnahu, ‘that you will attack him by night’) together with his folk, that 
is, those who believed in him, in other words, [swear] that we will kill them at night; then we will surely say 
(la-naq
ū
lanna; or [read] la-taq
ū
lunna, ‘you surely will say’) to his heir, the avenger of his blood, that we did 
not witness, we were not present at, the destruction of his folk (read muhlika or mahlika, meaning ‘the 
destroying of them’ or ‘their death’ [respectively]), and so we do not know who killed them, and [that] 
indeed we are being truthful’. 
[27:50]
So they plotted, thereby, a plot, but We [also] plotted a plot, in other words, We requited them by hastening 
on their punishment, while they were not aware. 
[27:51]
So behold how was the consequence of their plot! For lo! We destroyed them and all their people, with 
Gabriel’s cry, or by the angels’ pelting them with stones, which they could see even though they could not 
see them [the angels]. 
[27:52]
So those then are their houses [lying] deserted (kh
ā
wiyatan is in the accusative because it is a 
circumstantial qualifier, the operator of which is the import of the demonstrative pronoun [tilka, ‘those’]) 
because of the evil which they did, that is, their disbelief. Surely in that there is a sign, a lesson, for a people 
who have knowledge, of Our power and are thus admonished. 
[27:53]
And We delivered those who believed, in S
ā
lih — and they numbered 4,000 — and were fearful, of idolatry. 
[27:54]
And Lot (L
ū
tan is in the accusative because of an implied udhkur, ‘mention’, before it, and it [L
ū
tan] is 
substituted by [the following, idh q
ā
la …]), when he said to his people, ‘What! Do you commit [such] 
abomination, namely, homosexual intercourse, while you watch?, that is to say, while you watch one 
another, [so] engrossed [are you] in the sinful act? 
[27:55]
What! Do you (read a-innakum, pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second and inserting 
an alif between the two in both cases) come unto men in lust instead of women? Nay, but you are truly a 
people in ignorance’, of the consequence of your action. 
[27:56]
But the only response of his people was that they said, ‘Expel Lot’s family from your town. They are indeed a 
folk who [prefer to] remain pure!’, from [coming unto] the rears of men.
[27:57]
So We delivered him and his family, except his wife — We decreed [for] her, We made her by Our decree, to 
be of those who remained behind, in the chastisement. 
[27:58]
Then We rained on them a rain — these were the stones of baked mud [cf. Q. 15:74] — which destroyed 
them. And evil indeed was, their rain, the rain of those who were warned, against chastisement. 

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437
[27:59]
Say, O Muhammad (s): ‘Praise be to God, for the destruction of the disbelievers of past communities, and 
peace be on His servants whom He has chosen’. Is God (read a-All
ā
hu, pronouncing both hamzas; or by 
substituting an alif for the second one; or by not pronouncing the second one but inserting an alif between 
the one not pronounced and the other one or without [such an insertion]) better, for those who worship 
Him, or the partners which they ascribe? (read [either] tushrik
ū
na, ‘you ascribe’, or yushrik
ū
na, ‘they 
ascribe’), [they being] the people of Mecca, [the partners they ascribe] to Him, in other words, are such 
gods better for those who worship them?
[27:60]
Or He Who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water from the heaven, whereby 
We cause to grow (there is a shift here from third person to that of the first person [plural]) splendid 
gardens (had
ā
’iq is the plural of had
ī
qa, which is an enclosed garden) whose trees you could never cause to 
grow?, because of you do not have the ability for it. Is there a god (a-il
ā
hun, here and in the seven 
instances in which it occurs, read by pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second, inserting 
an alif between the two in both cases) with God?, who has helped Him in [all of] this? In other words, there 
is no god with Him. Nay, but they are a people who ascribe equals [to Him], who associate with God others. 
[27:61]
Or He Who made the earth an abode [of stability], that does not [constantly] shake beneath [the feet of] its 
inhabitants, and made rivers [to flow] throughout it and set firm mountains for it, with which He fixed the 
earth [in place], and set an isthmus between the two seas, between the sweet one and the salty one, the 
one not mixing with the other. Is there a god with God? Nay, but most of them have no knowledge, of His 
Oneness. 
[27:62]
Or He Who answers the desperate one, the anguished person suffering harm, when he calls to Him and Who 
removes [his] distress, from him and from others, and makes you successors in the earth (the annexation 
[khulaf
ā
’a l-ardi, ‘successors of the earth’] has the same meaning as f
ī
, ‘in’ [khulaf
ā
’a f
ī
’l-ardi, ‘successors in 
the earth’]), in other words, each generation succeeding the one before it. Is there a god with God? Little do 
you remember, [little] are you admonished ([read] m
ā
tadhakkar
ū
na, ‘do you remember’; or [read] 
yadhdhakkar
ū
na, ‘do they remember’, where [in both cases] the t
ā
’ has been assimilated with the dh
ā
l; the 
m
ā
is extra, [used] to make less what is already ‘little’). 
[27:63]
Or He Who guides you, shows you the way to your destinations, in the darkness of the land and the sea, by 
the stars at night, and by [the various] landmarks during the day, and Who sends forth the winds as 
harbingers of His mercy, ahead of the rain. Is there a god with God? Exalted be God [high] above what, 
others, they associate, with Him! 
[27:64]
Or He Who originates creation, in the wombs, from a sperm-drop, then brings it back again, after death, as 
established by the proofs for this [resurrection], even if you do not acknowledge it; and Who provides for 
you from the heaven, rain, and [from] the earth, vegetation. Is there a god with God? In other words, none 
of the things mentioned is done by anyone other than God, and there is no god with Him. Say, O 
Muhammad (s): ‘Produce your proof, your definitive argument, if you are truthful’, about their being a god 
with Me who has done any of the things mentioned.
[27:65]

---

438
They [the disbelievers] also asked him when the Hour will come to pass, and the following was revealed: 
Say: ‘No one in the heavens or the earth knows, be it angels or human beings, the Unseen, namely, what is 
hidden from them, except God, He knows it, and they are not aware, the disbelievers of Mecca, like others, 
when, is the time in which, they will be resurrected. 
[27:66]
Nay, has their knowledge come to comprise (read adraka, similar to the [4th verbal] form akrama, ‘he was 
kind to’; a variant reading has idd
ā
raka, which is actually tad
ā
raka, with the t
ā
’ changed into a d
ā
l and 
assimilated with the [other] d
ā
l, and a conjunctive hamza added, meaning, ‘attained’ or ‘caught up with’) the 
Hereafter?, such that they [have reason to] ask about the time of its coming — not so: Nay, for they are in 
doubt of it. Rather they are blind to it (‘am
ū
na, ‘blind’, as in blindness of the heart; this [statement] is 
rhetorically more powerful than the preceding one; the origin [of the term] is ‘amiy
ū
n, but the damma vowel 
is deemed too heavy for the y
ā
’ and has been moved to the m
ī
m, after dropping its kasra vowel). 
[27:67]
And the disbelievers say, also in rejecting the [idea of] resurrection: ‘What! When we and our fathers are 
dust shall we indeed be brought forth [again]?, from the graves. 
[27:68]
Already we and our fathers have been promised this before. [But] these are just the [legendary] fables of 
the ancients’ (as
ā
t
ī
r is the plural of ust
ū
ra, meaning ‘what has been written down [m
ā
sutira] of lies’). 
[27:69]
Say: ‘Travel in the land and see how was the sequel for the criminals’, because of their denials — and this 
[sequel] is that they were destroyed with punishment. 
[27:70]
And do not grieve for them, and do not be distressed by their schemes — this is meant to comfort the 
Prophet (s), in other words, do not be concerned with their plotting against you, for We will grant you 
victory over them. 
[27:71]
And they say, ‘When will this promise, of chastisement, be, if you are truthful?’, regarding it. 
[27:72]
Say: ‘It may be that part of what you seek to hasten on is close behind you’ — so they were slain at Badr 
and the remaining chastisement will come to them after death. 
[27:73]
And surely your Lord is bountiful to mankind, an example of which is His deferring chastisement for the 
disbelievers, but most of them are not thankful — disbelievers are not grateful for the deferring of 
chastisement since they reject [the fact] that it will ever come to pass. 
[27:74]
And surely your Lord knows what their hearts conceal, [what these] hide, and what they proclaim, by their 
tongues. 

---

439
[27:75]
And there is not a thing hidden in the heaven and the earth (the h
ā
’ [t
ā
’ marb
ū
ta] of gh
ā
’ibatun is 
hyperbole, in other words, anything that is completely hidden from people) but it is in a manifest Book, 
namely, [in] the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahf
ū
z) and in God’s concealed knowledge, an example of 
which is the [time of the] chastising of the disbelievers. 
[27:76]
Truly this Qur’
ā
n recounts to the Children of Israel — those living at the time of our Prophet — [the means 
to resolve] most of that concerning which they differ, that is, by virtue of the fact that it expounds the said 
[differences] as they should be, eliminating any disagreements between them, if only they were to 
implement it and submit [to its prescriptions]. 
[27:77]
And truly it is a guidance, from error, and a mercy for believers, from chastisement. 
[27:78]
Surely your Lord will decide between them, as [He will] with others on the Day of Resurrection, of His 
judgement, that is, His justice. And He is the Mighty, the Victor, the Knower, of what He judges, so that 
none will be able to oppose Him in the way that the disbelievers have opposed His prophets in this world. 
[27:79]
So rely on God, trust in Him, for you are indeed upon the manifest truth, [upon] the manifest religion: the 
sequel shall be in your favour, with victory over the disbelievers. God then draws comparisons between 
them and the dead, the deaf and the blind, saying: 
[27:80]
Indeed you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call when (al-du‘
ā
’a idh
ā
, read 
by pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second one, eliding it with the y
ā
’) they have 
turned their backs [upon you]; 
[27:81]
nor can you lead the blind out of their error. You can only make those hear — hear so as to comprehend 
and accept — who believe in Our signs — the Qur’
ā
n — and have therefore submitted, [are therefore] 
sincere in their affirmation of God’s Oneness. 
[27:82]
And when the word [of judgement] falls upon them, [when] they deserve that chastisement befalls them as 
well as all [other] disbelievers, We shall bring forth for them a beast from the earth which shall speak to 
them [saying], that is, which shall speak in Arabic to those who are alive at the time when it appears, 
among its other statements, it will say to them on Our behalf: ‘Indeed mankind (read tukallimuhum inna’l-
n
ā
sa; a variant has tukallimuhum bi-anna’l-n
ā
sa, ‘to tell them that mankind’) had no faith in Our signs’, in 
other words, they did not believe in the Qur’
ā
n and what it comprises [of the mention] of resurrection, 
reckoning and requital. With its [the beast’s] appearance the enjoining of decency and forbidding of 
indecency will cease, and thereafter no disbeliever will believe — just as God revealed to Noah [when He 
said to him]: None of your people will believe except he who has already believed [Q. 11:36]. 
[27:83]

---

440
And, mention, the day when We shall gather from every community a group of those who denied Our signs, 
namely, their leaders, the ones [whom they] followed, and they will be set in array, assembled, with the last 
of them brought together with the first and then led away, 
[27:84]
until, when they arrive, at the site of the Reckoning, He, exalted be He, shall say, to them: ‘Did you deny, 
My prophets, by [denying], My signs without comprehending them, from the perspective of your denial, in 
knowledge, or what (amm
ā
: the interrogative m
ā
has been assimilated with am, ‘or’) was it (dh
ā
is a relative 
pronoun, in other words [it is in fact] m
ā
alladh
ī
) that you did?, with the commands given to you. 
[27:85]
And the word [of judgement] shall fall, the chastisement will be due, upon them because of the evil they 
committed, that is, [because of] what they associated [with God], and they will not speak, since they will 
have no [valid] argument.
[27:86]
Do they not see that We made, We created, the night that they, like others, may rest in it, and the day for 
sight?, meaning, [for people] to see in it, so that they may go about their business therein. Surely in that 
there are signs, indications of His power, exalted be He, for a people who believe — they [the believers] are 
singled out for mention because they benefit from such [signs] in their faith, in contrast to the disbelievers. 
[27:87]
And the day when the Trumpet will be blown, the Horn [will be blown], the First Blast, by [the archangel] 
Isr
ā
f
ī
l, and whoever is in the heavens and the earth will be terrified, that is, a fright that brings about death 
— as is stated in another verse, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth will swoon [Q. 
39:68] (the past tense [fazi‘a] is used to express the fact that such [events] will have occurred); except 
whom God will, namely, Gabriel, Michael, Isr
ā
f
ī
l and the Angel of Death. According to Ibn ‘Abb
ā
s, however, 
these [excepted individuals] are the martyrs who are [described as], living with their Lord, provided for [by 
Him]’ [Q. 3:169]. And all (kullun: the nunation compensates for the [missing] genitive annexation), in other 
words, and every one of them, after being brought back to life on the Day of Resurrection, will come to Him 
(read in the form of the verb [atawhu] or the active participle [
ā
t
ū
hu]) in [utter] humility, humbled (the past 
tense, atawhu, is used to express the fact that this will have happened). 
[27:88]
And you see the mountains, you notice them, at the moment of the Blast, supposing them to be still, 
stationary in their place, because of their tremendous size, while they drift like passing clouds, [like the 
drifting of the] rain when it is blown around by the wind, in other words, they [the mountains] will be 
drifting in like manner until they [eventually] fall to the ground, whereby they are flattened before becoming 
like [tufts of] ‘wool’ [cf. Q. 101:5] and then ‘scattered dust’ [cf. Q. 56:6]. God’s handiwork (sun‘a, a verbal 
noun emphasising the import of the preceding sentence, and which has been annexed [in a genitive 
construction] to its agent [All
ā
hi, ‘God’] after the omission of its operator) Who has perfected everything, 
that He has made. Truly He is aware of what you do (taf‘al
ū
na; or [read] yaf‘al
ū
na, ‘[what] they do’), 
namely, His enemies, [what they do] in the way of disobedience, and His friends, in the way of obedience. 
[27:89]
Whoever brings a good deed, namely, [the profession of] ‘there is no god but God’, on the Day of 
Resurrection, shall have good, [shall have] a reward, for it, because of it (this [khayrun] is not the 
comparative [‘better’], since there is no deed better [than a good deed]). In another verse [it is stated that] 
he shall have tenfold the like of it [Q. 6:160]; and they, namely, those who bring such [good deeds], shall 

---

441
be secure from the terror of that day (min faza‘i yawmi’idhin, if read as a genitive annexation; or min faza‘in 
yawma’idhin, ‘from terror on that day’). 
[27:90]
And whoever brings an evil deed, namely, the ascribing of partners [to God], their faces shall be thrust into 
the Fire, having been oriented towards it — ‘faces’ are specifically mentioned here because of all the sensory 
organs it is where [a person’s] dignity resides, and so other parts [of the body] are more deserving [of 
punishment]. It shall be said to them in reproach: ‘Are you requited except, the requital, for what you used 
to do?’, in the way of idolatry and acts of disobedience. 
[27:91]
Say to them: I have been commanded only to worship the Lord of this land, namely, Mecca, which He has 
made inviolable, which He has made a secure Sanctuary, one in which no human blood may be shed, no 
person may be wronged, none of its prey may be hunted and [a sanctuary] which is never deserted. Such 
were the graces bestowed [by God] upon its inhabitants, the [tribe of] Quraysh, [graces] whereby God has 
spared their land the suffering and civil strife common to all the [other] lands of the Arabs; and to Whom, 
exalted be He, all things belong, for He is their Lord, Creator and Possessor. And I have been commanded to 
be of those who submit, to God, by affirming His Oneness; 
[27:92]
and to recite the Qur’
ā
n, to you as a call to faith. So whoever is guided, to it, is guided only for his own 
sake, since the reward for his being guided will be his; and whoever goes astray, from faith and errs from 
the path of guidance, say, to him: ‘I am just one of the warners’, the threateners, and therefore my duty is 
only to deliver [the Message] — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [against the disbelievers]. 
[27:93]
And say: ‘Praise be to God. He will show you His signs and you will recognise them. Thus on the day of Badr 
God showed them how it was to be killed, to be taken prisoner and to be beaten by the angels on their faces 
and backs; and God hastened on for them the [punishment of the] Fire. And your Lord is not oblivious of 
what they do’ (ya‘mal
ū
na; or [read] ta‘mal
ū
na, ‘[what] you do’) but grants them respite until their 
[appointed] time [of requital]. 
Meccan, except verses 52 to 55, which are Medinese, and verse 85, which was revealed at al-Juhfa during 
the Hijra; it consists of 88 verses, revealed after [s
ū
rat] al-Naml.